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When I flipped the breaker switch to ON, I heard a "POP", and the the breaker was tripped. I'm pretty sure I followed the Lutron-provided instructions correctly. I've studied them over and over, and can't see any problem. The lights are recessed xenon, and I've been assured that they'll...

I am currently considering buying a new home, and unfortunately my budget has restricted me to those with potentially less than ideal basements for a home theater. Just this weekend, I viewed a home that has very nice features throughout. The basement is almost perfect... I'm just concerned...

My dad's got a roughly three year old Toshiba DVD player. I think the model is SD1800. He called me the other day saying that a couple DVDs over the last little while have caused his entire system to shut off. Not just his DVD player, but his audio receiver and TV too! This happens at...

One of my all-time favourite movies is Big, starring Tom Hanks. However, this DVD was released quite some time ago, and is sorely lacking in features. The quality could be greatly improved too. Has anyone heard of plans to re-release? Of course, an anamorphic transfer and DD 5.1 would be...

Can I have one video source selected, while listening to an audio source on a different input? Lets say I want to watch TV (on the "DBS" video input), and wanted to listen to music on my computer (on the "V.Aux" input). I often watch sports events on TV, but listen to MP3s on my computer...

I recently upgraded my theater's receiver, and am moving the old one to our second TV room. The old receiver is an Onkyo TX-DS656, and its manual claims that the speakers must be minimum 85 watts. What would happen if I attached, say, a 60W set of speakers to it? Would the speakers blow...

Can anyone tell me the going rate for the new Denon 3805 in Canada? I was in my favourite local A/V store on the weekend, and they offered me a price of $1595 CDN (~1195 USD). Is that good? I've seen a few deals at US online stores for around $1200 USD, but Canadian online stores seem few...

I will very soon have three devices that output digital audio via a coaxial SPDIF (DVD, computer, and HD receiver coming in a week or so). Unfortunately, my receiver (Onkyo DS656) only has two coaxial SPDIF inputs. The lone optical input on the receiver is occupied by my XBox, so I can't...

A friend of mine aquired an RCA DTC-100, and needs advice on connecting it to his HDTV. Can anyone tell me if this would work, or is this JUST for the Infocus projectors? Infocus VGA to Component adapter It seems that, other than this, VGA to Component transcoders run in excess of $100...

My RPTV (Toshiba 57HDX82) has been exhibiting a slight green flicker over the past little while. It appears that the green lamp briefly becomes a little brighter than the blue and red lamps; like a faint green filter placed over the picture. This is random and generally lasts for a second or...

Just under a year ago, I purchased a Toshiba 57" RPTV (57HDX82). At the time, I thought it was great! Normal 4:3 TV broadcasts looked great in stretch mode 1, and DVD's looked amazing. But then again, I graduated from 27" TV. I'm sure anything bigger looked better. But here I am a year later...

Has this been canned, or is it due sometime soon? None of the online retailers I visit have it listed -- yet in the HTF review for "National Lampoon's Vacation", it is mentioned that the box-set will arrive today (Oct 7)...

I'm looking for opinions on what colour my covered ductwork on my ceilings should be. Below are three links to pictures of said ducts. The covered ducts are the boxy drywall structures along the tops of the wall. Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3 The ceiling will be a dark gray, while the...

I'm building a home theatre in my basement, but am concerned about potential "brightness" in the way of audio. All walls are sheetrock, ceiling will almost certainly be drop-ceiling, and a not overly thick carpet will be installed (with underpadding that is advertised to have "sound absorption"...

Here's the blue wall colour and gray ceiling colour I've selected for my home theatre: Could anyone please give me some opinions or recommendations on a colour for my carpet (and trim)? I'm not sure if I should get something gray, or something blue. Or perhaps some other colour...

Could somebody help me out with where to place the sub-woofer in my room? The bottom-right corner is out of the question as the desk is occupying it. The rear-centre is where my desk chair will be, so that too is out of the question. Will it have to be in either the bottom- or top-left side?

I'm installing six runs of cable ("RG59SD" from Liberty Wire & Cable - libertycable.com) from one side of a room (computer) to another side of the same room (A/V rack). The room is being finished by myself, so these cables are fed through drilled wood studs along the wall. These cables are 75...

Hey everyone... I need a fairly simple dimming system, and Lutron products are conveniently available for me. The trouble is, I can't figure out what product/model I need! I need something that will enable me to control four pot lights; each light basically at the corners of a rectangular...

I have recently begun work on my basement home theater, and just completed the wood framing. I wish to insulate the lower half (the upper half is already done with "polytarp 6" or something -- came with the new house in January). Now here's the problem. The framing is already in place, but...

This might be slightly off topic, but I know many of you home theater builders have must have encountered this... Is "Pressure Treated" wood required for use on the bottom plate of a framed wall? I saw this on Google while searching for something else. Please tell me it is not required...

My room is roughly 18.5' x 11.5'. I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice on placement of a 7.1 channel speaker setup. I'm looking to acquire a Denon 2803 this year, and am preparing my speakers... I've already got the fronts (2 x Mirage OM-10), rear (2 x Mirage OM-R2), Rear surround...

I bought a Toshiba 57HDX82 about two months ago. I just now realized that it doesn't have a 720p mode (oops, guess I should've been paying more attention!). Should I be concerned? Please tell me I'm worrying about nothing...

I picked up a Toshiba 57HDX82 about a month ago, and so far it seems pretty good. I watch a lot of hockey, so the games look fairly decent on the bigger screen! (I moved up from a 27" regular TV.) My question is... what input sources does a professional calibration improve? The component...

Hey everyone, I currently have a Dreamcast, and as fun as that is -- I'm ready for something new. Which next-gen console is the best for racing games? I just purchased a 57" Toshiba widescreen HDTV (57HDX82) and would like it if the console took advantage of widescreen (especially 16:9...

Hi all, I would like to knock out a wall in our 11'-7" x 11'-3" basement room to make it 11'-7" x 18'-0". The wall I will be knocking out is a load-bearing wall. Because of this, I need to install a support beam across the newly opened gap. Here's an illustration of the future room: Link...